FAQ :: Cord Blood Storage

Cord Blood Storage: What it is and what it can do.

By Victor D’Angelo

Cord blood storage is a new process which has not been around for a very long time.  It is the process of saving umbilical cord blood for later use whether to fix medical diseases or other similar things.

The main reasoning behind it is to save stem cell rich cord blood.  This is very valuable as stem cell research progresses as the cord blood has stem cells in it which can be used to treat diseases of certain kinds.

The trick to all of this though is that there is only one chance to get and save this highly valuable umbilical cord blood of your baby, and that is at birth.  If you pass up on this opportunity then you will no longer be able to save the blood and store it as it never again is available in the life of a human.

Cord blood storage is being used to fight disease as the stem cells are now being used to successfully treat such diseases as certain types of cancer and leukemia as well as other diseases such as anemia and osteoporosis.

The process of collecting the cord blood is actually quite simple as well as safe and painless so there are no worries on the parents end of their baby being damaged in the process.  It takes less than five minutes to complete and does not interfere with the delivery of the baby any way whether it is delivered via cesarean delivery or vaginal.  The lack of health risks makes it highly appealing as the blood is not drawn until the umbilical cord has been cut which prevents any pain or harm to both the mother and the baby.

The cord blood storage is done in either two ways.  One way is known as the syringe method as a syringe is used to draw blood from the umbilical cord after the cord has been cut.  This method is very similar to the way in which blood is drawn from somebody in a blood test.

The other way is known as the bag method as the umbilical cord is elevated to the point that the blood drains out into a bag.

There is only a 15-minute window to collect cord blood as that is all that it is available for after birth and it then needs to be processed by the laboratory within 48 hours making it a procedure that needs no hesitation.

Once the cord blood is collected it will then be processed and stored in a laboratory facility which is known as a blood bank.

Once the blood is drawn it has with it a unique number which represents your baby similar to a social security number of sorts so that it can always be identified with your baby whenever it may be needed.

With this medical breakthrough progressing along with it has come many public cord blood banks who will store the blood.  There are also private cord blood banks as well who all charge a fee.  The average collection fee among many of the private cord blood banks is around $1000 - $2000 with an annual storage fee of around $100.  This is very reasonable considering the insurance it provides for the future.  Cord blood stem cells have the same ability of sorts to treat many diseases as does bone marrow but the great thing about stem cells is that the body rejects it less.

For those who do not want to store the cord blood of the baby donations are also quite commonplace as it could help save the life of another child in the future if they happen to come down with a disease.  Donations do not cost a thing so with the medical breakthroughs it should always at least be a strong consideration if cord blood storage is not an option or not something you are interested in for your particular baby.

The hope is that even if you store your baby’s cord blood that you will never have to actually access it to fix an illness, but it is a nice insurance policy and peace of mind to know that it will be there and will always be available if it is needed to cure a potential disease which may occur during the baby’s life.

With the rapid progress that is being made with cord blood storage it is likely that in the near future it will be very uncommon to simply throw away a baby’s umbilical cord and along with it all of the very valuable stem cells.